Breaker help

[SupsChad]

Sorry I actually cant figure out what this is exactly. I think its the breaker from what I have read in the manual but at least for the SOHC manual, it doesn't look like it. Anyways, Im putting the engine back together and this is the last thing I think I might have to time correctly? I didnt take it apart, simply took it off the cylinder. I have the "rod" with the groove cut out seated properly with the camshaft pip. Its just the outer shell that I dont know if I need to have set in a certain position. Currently I just have it aligned with the right gold line and the left notch cutout aligned with the notch on the case in the bottom left. Any help would be great. Its the one thing I didnt take a pic of when I took the engine apart lol.

1982 XS400S SOHC

 

[CaptChrome]

That's the reluctor (rotor) and pick-up coil for the electronic ignition. It replaced the breaker points type ignition. Rotating the coil does change the timing, so it does need to be set with a timing light unless you scribed a reference line on it for reassembly. You are missing the two screws that hold the coil in place and keep it from rotating also. Here are some pictures showing the locking screws and washers:

 

[CaptChrome]

Sorry, I misspoke - you can set the timing of the coil statically. In my first picture above, my engine is on TDC for the left cylinder (the LT mark on the flywheel). If you rotate your coil so the reluctor and coil have approximately the relationship in the first picture, that should get you really close and the bike should start and run. Personally I would then use a timing light with the bike running to check that the spark of the left side shows the "LF" mark thought the timing window.

 

[SupsChad]

Ok thank you for that. I will reply in a little bit with an update

 

[SupsChad]

Ok so I just went and checked and I am a little confused. First, I do have one of the screws to hold it in place(Top Right), but I do remember it did only have one to begin with so I will get another one. Second, I followed the manual on setting up timing for the cam and I do believe I did that correctly. I set the left cylinder to TDC with the LT mark. Aligned the pip on the cam to 12 o'clock and made sure the mark on the gear was in-line with the pip as well. Then with the gold T (rotor I believe) it had a notch on the cylinder that slipped in to the Pip on the cam I believe. I didn't make a reference mark as I didnt think I needed to since its the first bike have worked on that isnt a 2-stroke.

So with the pictures I have here, one is for RT and the other is for LT. Mine seems to kinda match with your picture but only on RT so I am confused.

One more update... I did try and start the bike and it ran. But when I had the choke in/ halfway out it sounded like it had some backfire due to timing.

 

[CaptChrome]

Well, the picture I took was to show where my scribed witness mark was and I may have been on RT when I actually shot the picture now that you mention it! I can't recheck this as my top end is completely apart at the moment.

The fact that you have the bike started and running is a good thing, and I think before you get too concerned, you should get a timing light and set the exact position of the pickup coil. If you have the timing light pickup on the left plug wire, you want the LF mark showing in the reference window with the bike running at idle. You will need to rotate the coil one way or the other to get the LF mark showing as consistently as possible. If the LF mark is nowhere close to showing in the window, then there is an issue with mechanical timing that needs to be sorted out.

 

[SupsChad]

Well, the picture I took was to show where my scribed witness mark was and I may have been on RT when I actually shot the picture now that you mention it! I can't recheck this as my top end is completely apart at the moment.

The fact that you have the bike started and running is a good thing, and I think before you get too concerned, you should get a timing light and set the exact position of the pickup coil. If you have the timing light pickup on the left plug wire, you want the LF mark showing in the reference window with the bike running at idle. You will need to rotate the coil one way or the other to get the LF mark showing as consistently as possible. If the LF mark is nowhere close to showing in the window, then there is an issue with mechanical timing that needs to be sorted out.

Thanks alot. Ill go ahead and buy the timing light.

 

[CaptChrome]

I just put my ignition pick-up back on my engine and wanted to update this with 1980 and newer SOHC bike static timing setup in case someone runs into this thread in the future looking for info on how to do a static setup.

Before I took the pickup off of the bike, I scribed a witness mark so that I could reassemble the unit in the correct orientation. My tamper plug was still in place on the cover, so I think this is how the bike was setup from the factory. After putting the pickup back on, I set the flywheel to LF (that gave a better reference than using LT) with the punched-mark side of the rotor at the top.

And the rotor orientation was the following:

This should get you a running bike. Dynamic timing should then be done or checked using a timing light.

 

[SupsChad]

I just put my ignition pick-up back on my engine and wanted to update this with 1980 and newer SOHC bike static timing setup in case someone runs into this thread in the future looking for info on how to do a static setup.

Before I took the pickup off of the bike, I scribed a witness mark so that I could reassemble the unit in the correct orientation. My tamper plug was still in place on the cover, so I think this is how the bike was setup from the factory. After putting the pickup back on, I set the flywheel to LF (that gave a better reference than using LT) with the punched-mark side of the rotor at the top.
View attachment 37482

And the rotor orientation was the following:
View attachment 37483

This should get you a running bike. Dynamic timing should then be done or checked using a timing light.

I thank you for this. I actually plan on bringing the bike to a shop possibly to get this all setup. I want to make sure I set the valves correctly and have someone fiddle with the timing as well. The bike right now has a hanging idle which could be caused by a vacuum leak, valves, timing, or carbs. As I have messed with these, its been a hassle i have been dealing with for a couple weeks now. Im going get some estimates on it, but ive been aching to finally ride it as its getting warm out. I definitely have had fun taking this on and appreciate you all for helping me